MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ENEG20001 AUSTRALIAN ENGINEERING PRACTICE
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE PAPER
Table of Contents
LO3: Roles, Responsibilities and Need to Implement Principles of Sustainable Development by Engineers 3
Environmental Factors 4
Social Factors 4
Economic Factors 4
LO4. Management of the Documentation and Information 4
Transparency 5
Consistent communication of information 5
Collaborative approach 5
Trust among the members 6
Preventing team burnouts 6
LO5: Effective Communication across a range of contexts 6
Effective Communication 6
Non-Effective Communication 7
References 9
LO3: Roles, Responsibilities and Need to Implement Principles of Sustainable Development by Engineers
The terms sustainable development means the efficient and economic use of finite resources with the objective of meeting the needs of the present generation with comprising the ability of the future generation to meet their needs. With an uncontrolled increase in the population across the globe, the concept of sustainable development has emerged. According to Nallusamy et al. (2015), due to rapid increase on the population, the requirement for the resources is increasing at a rapid pace. However, the resources are limited, due to which the needs of the public is not met. This concept can be applied specifically to the non-renewable resources such a petroleum and coal. The population cannot be decreased under any circumstances however, the rate of increase in population can be minimised. A holistic approach towards the use of resources should be adopted to ensure that everyone could meet their basic needs. This holistic approach of using the resources to meet the needs of public is referred to as sustainable development.
Engineering is the branch of science, which deals with the operation, construction and management of innovation and technology. Engineers are those professionals, who are responsible for designing the professional solutions for social issues and hence, they play a major role in the development of the society in the modern time. The field of engineering is fast changing and the change depends on the challenges, necessities and demand of the upcoming period. However, lack of resources and rapid increase in population has negatively affected the engineering processes. As every individual demand resources at a lesser cost therefore, it poses numerous challenges for the engineers. This requires the engineers to adopt highly innovative process coupled with least damage to the environment.
In order to meet the above-mentioned challenges sustainable engineering also referred to as innovative engineering has come into the limelight. Sustainable engineering is a sustainable and modern approach toward operating system and design the new system to develop efficient machines along at the least environmental cost possible. There are seven principles and concepts required for the framework of sustainable engineering. The principles are the modification of the existing engineering principle so that the sustainable needs can be met. The professional and academicians have made numerous efforts towards formulation of sustainable engineering principle and have come out with seven principles. All of the seven principles fall into the triangle with value, which are closely related to the environment, society, and the economic values as the main pillars.
Environmental Factors
As noted by Whyte et al. (2016), any design or innovation should not cause harm to the biodiversity and should stay within the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. It does not matter how useful or efficient the design is, if it causes harm to the environment, it should not be implemented. The environmental cost should be kept at the forefront for ensuring sustainable development of the globe. The design or innovation should ensure that it does not generate any additional waste to products that are harmful for the environment in any matter.
Social Factors
These are the principle that are based upon the view that the new technology or design should aim at providing the society with enough opportunities to increase their efficiency with the existing technology. The needs of the larger section of the society should be met with the innovation rather than meeting the needs of only a small section of the society. The design should ensure that there is no additional harm to the environment as it ultimately affects the quality of life of human being eventually. The individual needs should be kept aside and the focus should be on meeting the needs of larger section of the society. The best example of this comes from France in terms of ‘ombrière SUDI’, which is a sustainable urban design, and innovation. SUDI is a mobile station, which performs multiple functions such as providing shade to the vehicles along with charging the vehicles.
Economic Factors
The economic principles focus largely on the longevity and affordability of the innovation as well as design. This can be clearly understood from the concept of green building. This has changed the whole concept of construction of buildings, as the materials used in such buildings are eco-friendly along with long-term lasting ability. The United States Green Building Council has administered Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED), is the global market leaders of the rating system.
LO4. Management of the Documentation and Information
Teamwork means working together and achieving more than the entire individual working individually can. While working on a project, the team faced a number of challenges, which demand innovative thinking and conflict solving skills. According to Vijayan (2018), every individual has a different perspective towards solving a problem and therefore, working in a team helps the group identifying various solution and critically analysing each solution to find the optimum one. However, few specific values are to be followed to ensure positive outcomes as all the individuals are required to match the pace and tact of others to ensure that the work is completed within time. However, a team generally comprises of the individuals who do not work with the same pace, which leads to conflicts among the members of the team.
On the other hand, if a team consists of members having same skills and interest then there are lesser chances of achieving the desired output. AS noted by Whyte et al. (2016), a team should comprise of members with different viewpoints, as it helps in finding different solutions to a solution and then selecting the best one. In addition to that, all the members if the team are required to use to same version of the documents, as it would help them in efficient transfer of data and information. This leads to development of a system, whereby a leader can develop effective team and ensure accountability and trust among the team members. There are certain strategies and aspects, which should be implemented in the management process to maintain sustainability in the process of information transfer, which can further lead to development of a productive and happier team.
Transparency
It is one of the major principle, which enables all the members of the team to be at the same place. Transparency within a team is a difficult task, but the same is required for achieving the optimum results. Each individual has a different thought process, which makes it difficult to ensure transparency across the team. However, a transparent environment is one of the basic requirements for working in a team as it leads to mutual respect among the team members for one another. A transparent information system enables the members of the team to feel secure about their positions and makes them free towards contributing their ideas and suggestions.
Consistent communication of information
As commented by Mendes et al. (2016), regular communicating of information enables the team members to know the progress of the other members. This leads to an honest feedback towards the work of others, which helps in improvement of the idea of each members. This is of prime importance for the members who are located far away from one another. This enables the team members to be informed about the progress of other member.
Collaborative approach
Team requires an active effort of all the members to achieve common goals. Other team members can use the output of one members as the input. Therefore, the team requires effective co-ordination of all the members of the team. A collaborative approach helps the members in encouraging one another and ensuring constant exchange of information, ideas and documentation.
Trust among the members
Trust is of prime importance while working in a team. Due to lack of trust, the distance among the team members starts increasing, which ultimately hampers the progress of the whole group. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the team leader to solve all the conflicts and ensure that there is trust along the members of the team. In addition to that, the trust factor also implies at the time of allocation of the duties and responsibilities.
Preventing team burnouts
There should be acre and respect among the members of the team for each other. There may be issues among the team members regarding conflict of idea and solution. However, the same should not have any negative impact on the relation of the members among the team. The team leader should ensure that all the conflicts are managed in the best manner possible. The team leader should imply rules and regulations, which can further help towards ensuring that all the members are at the same pace.
LO5: Effective Communication across a range of contexts
As stated by Fakhar Hussain Malik and Hassan (2016), effective communication is of prime importance and one of the most necessary tool while working on a project. The quality of information is the thin line between mere communication and an effective communication. Communication refers to the mere transfer of ideas from the speaker to the receiver. However, effective communication involves collecting feedback and others. During communication, it does not matter whether the listener has understood the information in the true sense or not. However, in case of effective communication, the same matters the most.
Therefore, while working on a project, effective communication is one of the major aspects and hence, it should not be overlooked. Identification of the key stakeholders is one of the task that should be considered. If the stakeholders are identified properly, they can be informed regarding the progress of the project and others. The medium of communication should be formal to ensure that the records of the same can be kept. E-mail is an effective communication tool, which is widely used for transfer of information at work. The following explains effective communication along with the factors, which could lead to non-effective communication.
Effective Communication
To:
[email protected]Subject: Progress report of the project
Respected Sir,
I am highly obliged to inform you reading the progress of the project, as the project is going well and it is expected to finish within the stipulated period. We have 15 more days to go and the work will be finished before that. I am sorry to inform that the capital provided by you for completion of the project will not be sufficient, as most of the amount has been spent towards purchase of raw materials.
In addition to that, the salary has not been paid to the workers for the last month due to shortage of funds. I am attaching an excel sheet to provide you detailed information regarding the expenditure. Along with that, I am attaching the bills related to purchase of raw materials and other necessary items. An additional capital of $31000 will be required for smooth completion of the project.
I request to find the attachments and respond me at the earliest, as the workers need to be informed regarding their pending salary. I am pleased to inform you that the issues regarding wooden raw material has been resolved and we have replaced the wood with steel to ensure long life and low cost. Please treat the matter as urgent as respond to the same as soon as possible.
Thanks & Regards
ABC
Team Leader
Non-Effective Communication
To –
[email protected]Subject: Information related to the project
Respected Sir,
Hello sir, Hope you are doing good. This mail is being written to you to inform that the progress of the work is good. All the workers are working hard however, they have not been paid their last month salary, due to which they are demanding the same now. There have been various issues at the site, which involve lack of funds for completion of the project. All the funds have been used for purchase of raw material and other necessities. I would like to inform you that an additional capital of $30000 would be required for completion of the project.
I would like you to visit the site once so that the bills and other documents can be shown to you. The progress of the project is good and the same is expected to be completed before time. Only 15 days are left for the completion of the project therefore, I would request you to send the funds at the earliest, so that the workers can be paid their salaries. Hope to receive a positive reply from your side.
Thanks & Regards
ABC
Team Leader
The above e-mails clearly show a difference in the presentation of information, which can hinder the information as well as the documentation flow between the stakeholders and the member. An effective e-mail includes progress of the project, issues and further requirement for smooth completion of the project. According to Markovic and Salamzadeh (2018), the information should be communicated in a proper flow, as it can increase the chances of a positive response from the other side.
References
Fakhar Hussain Malik, P & Hassan, R 2016 ‘ROLE OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS IN THE ENHANCEMENT OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS: TEACHERS’PERSPECTIVE’ Ali Ammar, Dr. Ghulam Murtaza, p. 201
Markovic, MR & Salamzadeh, A 2018 ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT’ BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURIAL TENDENCIES, p. 11
Mendes, TS, de F Farias, MA, Mendonca, M, Soares, HF, Kalinowski, M & Spínola, RO 2016 ‘Impacts of agile requirements documentation debt on software projects: a retrospective study’ In Proceedings of the 31st Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, pp. 1290-1295
Nallusamy, S., Dinagaraj, G.B., Balakannan, K. and Satheesh, S 2015 ‘Sustainable green lean manufacturing practices in small-scale industries-A case study’ International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, vol. 10, no. 62, pp. 143-146
Vijayan, GI 2018 ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Process for Green Information Technology and Management Engineering Systems towards Sustainable Education Process Business Excellence Achievements. In 2018 International Conference on Information Technology and Management Engineering (ICITME 2018)
Whyte, J, Stasis, A & Lindkvist, C 2016 ‘Managing change in the delivery of complex projects: Configuration management, asset information and ‘big data’’ International Journal of Project Management, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 339-351
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